‘What do you do when you play?’ has wrapped up 2024 with a year-end party featuring all of the laughter cheat key friends, recording the top Saturday entertainment viewership ratings.

The December 28 episode of MBC‘s ‘What do you do when you play?’ (directed by Kim Jin-yong, Lee Joo-won, Wang Jong-seok, Ahn Ji-sun, Bang Sung-soo/written by Noh Min-sun) was decorated with the ‘Thanks to Nol-mo Friends’. It depicted the members having a year-end party with their friends who made ‘What do you do when you play?’ shine throughout the year: Kim Kwang-gyu, Kim Seok-hoon, Kim Jong-min, and DinDin.

The ‘What do you do when you play?’ that aired that day recorded a metropolitan area viewership rating of 5.4%, taking first place among Saturday entertainment programs in the same time slot. The 2049 viewership rating, a key indicator that measures channel competitiveness and topicality, was 2.4%, ranking first among all Saturday entertainment shows as well as in the same time slot. The best minute was Kim Jong-min’s English pop song listening evaluation scene disguised as a music quiz. The scene where Kim Jong-min sings Charlie Puth‘s ‘I Don’ Think That I Like Her’ in an alien language and the correct answer is revealed drove the highest viewership rating per minute up to 6.8%. (Nielsen Korea, Seoul area standard)

Yoo Jae-suk picked up Kim Kwang-gyu and Kim Seok-hoon and headed to the year-end party venue. Kim Kwang-gyu and Kim Seok-hoon had co-starred in the drama ‘Into the Storm’ 20 years ago. Kim Kwang-gyu, who suffers from anxiety about leading characters, awkwardly greeted them, saying, “Seok-hoon won’t remember me because I was a minor actor back then.” In the midst of the awkwardness, Kim Seok-hoon began the consultation by cautiously revealing his 5-year-old son‘s hair loss concerns, and Kim Kwang-gyu expressed his anger by saying, “So what if I don’t have enough hair?” when meeting Kim Seok-hoon for the first time in 20 years and having their first conversation about hair loss.

When Kim Jong-min, who will be his new groom next year, appeared, the place became bustling with talk of marriage. When Kim Jong-min said, “(The wedding date) is coming this month,” Kim Kwang-gyu misheard and asked, “Is the baby coming out?”, making everyone burst into laughter. Yoo Jae-suk continued the warm atmosphere by saying, “I decided to host the event. I‘m a junior from Suyuri,” and Kim Jong-min firmly refused Kim Kwang-gyu’s offer to sing a congratulatory song, making everyone laugh.

The year-end party began in earnest with DinDin‘s arrival. This year, the number of times Kim Kwang-gyu, Kim Seok-hoon, Kim Jong-min, and DinDin appeared on ‘What Do You Do When You Play?’ and their highlights were reviewed, and DinDin complained, “I filmed 6 times, but only appeared on air 4 times!”. The unfortunate episode where they fought against the screen time was revealed to the world, and the behind-the-scenes story of Patricia, who filmed with DinDin, being edited out was revealed. Yoo Jae-suk shouted, “Sorry Patricia!”.

As the end of the year approaches, time was set aside to ask questions that everyone was curious about. Joo Woo-jae, who is approaching his 40s, was asked, ‘What is your 40s like?’, and Joo Woo-jae got angry and replied, “How would you know, when I’ve never been in my 40s before?” and said, “It wasn‘t hard to accept, but you’re making a fuss next to me”, pointing at Yoo Jae-suk and Haha. As Joo Woo-jae, who was depressed due to his brothers‘ continued complaints about aging, tried to change the subject, Yoo Jae-suk and Haha shouted, “Woo-jae, embrace your 40s!” Everyone sang the ‘40s Celebration Song’, and the year-end party atmosphere became exciting for everyone except Joo Woo-jae.

They also read their fortunes for the new year. Joo Woo-jae heard that he was “like to be Kim Kwang-gyu”, and he achieved the ‘parallel fortune theory’ with the same ‘soul of a single man’ as Kim Kwang-gyu. Kim Kwang-gyu, who had been frustrated when he heard that his luck in love came at the age of 68, was comforted by the news that Joo Woo-jae’s luck in love came at the age of 80, saying, “I‘m doing okay”. Joo Woo-jae was even recommended the same area as Kim Kwang-gyu as a place to move. Kim Kwang-gyu, his ‘soul doppelganger”, said, “Woo-jae living alone? I should go in and live there”, and dreamed of living together, aiming for ‘The two of us live together’ instead of ‘I live alone’.

A year-end healing song was prepared for the last order of the year-end party. Hwang Ga-ram’s ‘I am a firefly’, which has recently been loved by sweeping the karaoke charts, flowed, and Hwang Ga-ram himself appeared. The comforting song for everyone who worked hard in 2024 gave warmth. The ‘What do you do when you play?’ members who happily finished the year-end together made us look forward to 2025 when they will run even harder.

The first ‘What do you do when you play?’ of the new year 2025 will be the ‘What do you do when you play Winter Song’. The preview for the next broadcast for the show foreshadows a splendid lineup including the main characters with voices representing winter, actor Song Gun-hee, and national fencing team member Oh Sang-wook. MBC‘s ‘What Do You Do When You Play?’ will air on Saturday, January 4th at 6:25 PM.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com Reporter jhj@donga.com